Heard About Campus…

April 12, 2013

“The most exciting part of the day for me was they let me actually teach a Constitutional law class here. The interaction with your colleagues was tremendous—good questions, fast responses and a real interest and passion for learning.” — Louis Freeh, former FBI Director, after receiving the honorary Doctor of Laws at George Washington’s Birthday Convocation

North Korea Going Nuclear

“But according to former U.S. State Department official Mitchell Reiss, Washington should expect the North’s new, untested leader, Kim Jong Un, to carry out the threats. … ‘Over the past few decades, there has been a very deliberate, methodical march by the North to develop, and eventually refine and perfect both its ballistic missiles and its nuclear capability. So [a third nuclear test] is not a question of if, but when,’ said Reiss, who has years of private and public sector experience negotiating with the North Koreans. He said the purpose of an eventual third test would likely be to develop ‘a warhead small enough to be placed on a ballistic missile that could be delivered at long range.’

—Mark Snowiss, Voice of America, January 24, 2013

Spend It If You’ve Got It

The Employment Policies Institute released a statement Tuesday arguing that raising Maryland’s minimum wage would result in job losses. Robert Lynch, an economics professor Washington College who works with the Raise Maryland campaign, acknowledged that research shows initial job losses after a wage hike. But he said the economy is bolstered by higher-paid employees spending the larger paychecks. “There’s a stimulus effect when all of those low-wage workers spend that money,” Lynch said. “While some businesses will indeed lay off workers, other businesses will see their business go up and hire workers.”

Since taking office less than two months ago, Japan’s outspokenly hawkish new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has been in what some political analysts are calling “safe driving mode.” … “In his first six weeks, he has done everything he can to show he is a moderate,” said Andrew L. Oros, director of international studies at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. “But after July, he might feel he has a freer rein to do things that he thinks are justified.”

—Martin Fackler, “For His Second Act, Japanese Premier Plays It Safe, With Early Results,”The New York Times,February 18, 2013

Leaders Of A Modern World

“‘Today’s world’ and its questions, Pope Benedict has come to understand, have scant patience for slow or tired leaders. For thousands of years, leaders enjoyed, and jealously guarded, a near monopoly on three things critical to sound leadership: strategic information, the decision-making process itself, and the means to disseminate their ideas, insights and initiatives. But today … any 16-year-old in Aracaju, Abidjan or Annapolis can access the same information, news and ideas as Pope Benedict can. And that teenager can broadcast his or her ideas out to the world about as easily as the pope. … The modern world, in short, has destroyed traditional leadership’s longstanding competitive advantage: privileged access to information and communication.”

—Michael Harvey, chair of the Department of Business Management, “Pope Benedict and the problem of leadership,” Baltimore Sunop-ed, February 12, 2013

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Washington College’s Center for Environment & Society and the Maryland Biodiversity Project this spring co-sponsored the first BioBlitz held at the College’s Chester River Field Research Station at Chino Farms.

Students, faculty, and staff from Washington College traveled to Albany, Americus, and Columbus, Georgia over Spring Break to help build three homes in a partnership with Habitat for Humanity and NeighborWorks Columbus.